Two Logan children die in duplex fire

LOGAN - Two young children were killed in house fire early Monday morning in Logan.

City of Logan Fire Chief Scott Beckett said the call came in about 4:50 a.m. about a structure fire on Canton Lane near the site of the old state police office.

Firefighters knew before they went in there was a possibility two were trapped by the fire, which had been burning possibly 30-40 minutes before is was discovered.

When the firefighters arrived, they found fire was already through the roof, and two small children were trapped inside.

“This was a bad deal. There were no smoke detectors inside the home. It was old-style construction. I would rather have had a different outcome and seen the children go to school this morning,” said Beckett, “But, unfortunately, that’s not the outcome we had. It is a bad situation for everybody.”

The West Virginia State Fire Marshal is on the scene and a cause for the fire is expected to be released by late afternoon.

The house was a two-family dwelling. Michael Williams, his girlfriend Shantell Sydney and her two children Dontarius Gardner, 3, and Shania Sydney, 4, were home when the fire started. The two people who occupied the other side of the home were Sydney’s parents, Henry and Wilma West, who got out safely.

Dontarius and Shania were in a back bedroom and their mother, Shantell and Williams reportedly tried to get to them, but the flames were too intense.

Shania was in Pre-K at Verdunville Elementary. A spokesperson with Logan County Schools says counselors are at the school helping students and staff deal with this tragedy.

Beckett says adults on both sides of the duplex-style home escaped unharmed. He says no working smoke detectors were found inside the home and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

In an unrelated story, on Sunday, Kentucky State Police Post 9 in Pikeville, Ky. received a call of a structure fire on Elswick Fork of Feds Creek, Ky.

First Responders and Firefighters responded to the scene and located a male and female deceased inside the residence. The bodies of the deceased were transported to Frankfort for autopsy and positive identification. This incident remains under investigation by KSP Detective Kevin Newsome.